Sunday, December 14, 2014

Howdy, Christmas music-seekers. You didn't think I'd forget about you this year, did you? Never.

Kicking off this (very) shortened sharing season, here are the Barbershop vocal stylings of the Evans Quartet.
From the notes on the back cover (Decca DL 74162 / Stereo):

"The Evans Quartet — Turk Evans, tenor; Pres Evans, lead; Gene Smith, baritone; and Shirl Beckstead, bass — were the 1960 International Champions of the well-known S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. (Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America), and they were Medalist winners for two years previous."

The program is enjoyable, but your tolerance of the barbershop style may vary — as this is strictly the quartet, with no musical accompaniment. Also of note, the arrangements are much slower than you might be used to, to allow for those elongated barbershop harmonies.

When you prepare your next Christmas compilation of harp, zither, organ & chimes, clarinet, music box, etc., add a little barbershop to the mix.